


Pushed Back From The Shore

by brooksey



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-02-27 11:35:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2691449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brooksey/pseuds/brooksey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Shepard is poisoned, Thane is relieved when his prayers to keep her from crossing the sea are answered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlackjackKent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackjackKent/gifts).



> Written for Mass Effect Holiday Cheer 2014 as a gift for BlackjackKent!
> 
> (Sorry BK, I had terrible trouble with the title, this was the best I could do...!)

Standing in the middle of an opulent dining room, a dozen assault rifles leveled squarely at her, it occurs to Shepard — not for the first time — that accepting Aria's dinner invitation may not be the best call she's ever made. She can feel Garrus behind her, back-to-back: tense, alert, sniper rifle raised and ready to make a move she knows they can't make. They're outnumbered, and with the poison creeping through Shepard's veins dampening her biotics, they're outgunned.

Shepard refuses to show weakness by wiping the cold sweat from her brow, but Aria smirks anyway, seeing that the toxin is doing its work. "Don't worry, Commander, it won't kill you, I promise. Well— it won't kill you as long as you agree to what I'm asking, and quickly enough to get the antidote." A tiny round flask, filled with a crystal clear yellow liquid, flashes in Aria's hand like a precious gem before disappearing.

"You've been wandering all over the galaxy running bush-league errands for your little crew members lately, Shepard. Surely you can do one for poor old me?" Aria asks mockingly. "Thanks to Archangel here, the entire balance of power on Omega is being reset, and I don't like the way things are going. The way I see it, you two owe me, and I'm not asking much — just the precise and timely assassination of a few choice mercenary bosses and gang leaders." Blue lips twist in a cruel smile. "Number of targets at my discretion, of course." 

Aria's smug tone becomes threatening, and suddenly she is every inch the ruthless crime lord that has ruled over the chaos of Omega for decades. "I tried asking nicely, but you had to do things the hard way. Your choice, but no matter what — I _always_ get what I want."

Rage overwhelms Shepard's senses, even making her forget for a moment the way the poison is sabotaging her body. "Aria, get serious," Shepard spits back. "Wouldn't it be your best move to have me on _your_ side with all the shit that's about to go down?" She pauses to breathe deeply, calm her heartbeat; the deep gloom in the corner behind Aria appears to shift and she blinks rapidly, trying to clear her vision. 

Shepard jerks her chin forward in defiance. "Yeah. I think you would rather have me owing you a favor, here. You drop this stupidity, hand over that antidote, and you'll have me in your debt."

She's having difficulty staying focused on the asari's carefully neutral expression now, and her burning, watering eyes see more undulating shadows in the background. She squeezes them shut for a moment and tries to cover how heavily she's leaning against Garrus. Aria is standing with arms folded, shrewdly considering Shepard's words, always calculating the probable outcomes, the best odds of coming out ahead.

"And you know I always pay up," Shepard finishes with as much bravado as she can muster, nodding sharply once. 

Eyes narrowing, Aria's mouth begins to open in retort. The darkness shimmers behind her, finally taking form, and before the asari can say a word her answer is cut off by the iron grip of an emerald-scaled hand around her throat. Another hand rests firmly against her head, palm over temple, and Shepard knows that Aria must hear the soft rasp of Thane's breathing: his fathomless black eyes are just visible over her shoulder.

For a split second, her normally inscrutable face, the impenetrable mask behind which the queen of Omega hides from her adversaries, is plainly shocked. In the several seconds it takes for her guards to notice Thane and begin to train their guns on him, she recovers and signals Grizz, her chief bodyguard, across the room. An order is barked, and the rest of the squad stands down hesitantly. 

Aria quickly assumes a smooth, ingratiating manner, like a Venus flytrap using nectar to lure in its prey. "This must be Sere Krios. I don't believe we've had the pleasure." 

"Nor will we tonight," Thane replies in a cold voice, "as the three of us are departing. The vial, if you please." 

Through the haze that is beginning to encroach on the edges of her sight, Shepard sees the asari's left hand twitch minutely. She mirrors the motion and Thane gives the faintest of nods in return. Garrus has turned around to support her openly now; her legs tremble beneath her and she's beginning to struggle to stay on her feet. Her breathing is rapid and shallow, panicked; she feels like she can't pull in enough oxygen. A detached part of her mind wonders how Thane can possibly manage it, all the time feeling this terrifying shortage of air.

Aria's hands begin to glow blue, readying a biotic attack — meant for Thane, or for herself and Garrus, Shepard isn't sure — but they flicker out almost immediately, accompanied by a grunt of pain. Shepard can see another biotic corona around Aria's head, sparks fading from Thane's fingertips and angry red welts left behind on flawless indigo skin. 

"I wouldn't, Miss T'Loak," he rumbles in warning. "The vial. Now."

Even with her fragile neck under the mercy of lethal hands, Aria's arrogance cannot be contained, and she snorts in disbelief. "Spare me. I don't give up that easily. I've got a room full of guards — you may have noticed they have big guns. And you're unarmed, Krios."

"Do you really think so?" Thane murmurs, a dangerous smile on his lips. His grip closes tightly around the slender violet-blue throat as the hand resting against her temple pushes her head to a severe angle, calmly overpowering her visible effort to resist him. 

Although only seconds elapse between the threat and Aria's bitter nod to her lieutenant, it feels like hours of desperate, futile battle against the effects of the poison. Once Grizz has left the room with the guards ahead of him and sealed the door, Shepard collapses to her knees, then slumps bonelessly to the floor. Garrus's voice rings out through the room, alarmed and urgent: "We need to get her out of here."

"Indeed. Contact Joker on the way, Garrus. Make sure he's ready to leave Omega the moment we're on board." 

Thane's hand darts into a concealed pocket near Aria's left hip, easily finding and liberating the glass bottle before finally releasing her from his grasp, then moving swiftly to Shepard and lifting her as easily as a ragdoll. Seething with anger, hating the defeat, Aria is held in place by Garrus's laser scope focused precisely between her eyes as he backs out of the room. A barely-conscious Shepard is in Thane's arms behind him, already speeding back towards the Normandy.


	2. Chapter 2

The whispering bubble and low hum of Shepard's fish tank ought to be calming. The dim lighting in the cabin ought to invite sleep, but Thane cannot be soothed. Since his flight to the ship, carrying Shepard back to the Normandy, back to safety, she has not yet woken. Chakwas had been confident — mostly — that the antidote to Aria's toxin had been administered in time. Thane has encountered too many damaging and deadly poisons over the years to take much comfort in the doctor's assurances.

The assault of flashbacks against his guarded mind has been relentless and exhausting. He doesn't want to think about what happened after they left Aria behind, doesn't want to remember, but the constant struggle has finally weakened his resolve enough to crack. Knowing that he is about to succumb to it, he braces himself and, as he has done so often in the past, curses his perfect memory.

_Kelly Chambers gasps aloud when I burst through the airlock. Shepard limp in my arms. Pale, sick, maybe dead. Garrus shouts behind me. I run. The room is a blur, the elevator crawls. Bright lights in the med bay blind me after the dark halls of the ship. The doctor rushes around Shepard, preparing, injecting. Antidote, painkillers, sedatives. She lies motionless. Cold skin under my hands. Fear rises up, chokes in my throat. I can't breathe._

Blinking, relieved to be free of the memory, Thane quickly regains awareness of his surroundings. He is where he should be, in Shepard's cabin on the Normandy, lying in bed next to his love, bare chest pressed against her back. She sleeps on, warm but still — if he spoke aloud, it was not enough to wake her, and a selfish part of him wishes it had been. Loose ends of Shepard's dark brown hair tickling his brow, he buries his face in the nape of her neck and plants tiny kisses on her skin, surprisingly soft for a woman so hardened by battle. This close, her scent fills his nose, unique and familiar, comforting.

Living through his terror again has him reflexively pulling Shepard nearer to him. Both arms wrap around her snugly, as though by keeping her close he can keep her tied to him, tethered to life, unable to slip away across the sea and leave him behind. Before now, he had never seriously considered the possibility that he might outlive Shepard, might have to go on without her. He has come to understand that it's something he could not bear; his next battle-sleep would not last long.

Even the merest brush with thoughts of losing her is intolerable; he closes his eyes against the fear and begins to pray silently, pleas to his gods he has repeated hundreds of times since the Normandy fled Omega. _Arashu, mother to us all, keep watch over one of your own; protect this one in her time of need as you have protected me. Wise Kalahira, be satisfied with the knowledge that I will join you soon; push this one back from your shores should she attempt to cross. Arashu, mother to us all..._

He's pulled out of his meditative stillness by movement, sounds coming from the woman in his arms. Shepard's head turns further into the pillow and she murmurs something unintelligible; her hips twist in an attempt to shift positions; one heel jerks back and lands a light kick to his shin. When her hand reaches up and grasps his wrist, the grip affectionate but with strength behind it, the air rushes out of his lungs in a sigh of relief. Before he can remember to be gentle, his arms have tightened around her in a crushing embrace.

"Siha. You're awake," he whispers against her skin, barely controlling his emotion. Belatedly, he realizes how closely he's holding her and relaxes; she rolls onto her back and turns her bright green eyes up to him, looking to him for answers. "Arashu be praised. I thought... I didn't know whether..." Seeing a frown cross her face, he backs up. "How much do you remember?"

The frown deepens, confused and disoriented; her voice is thick and slow. "Aria... dinner. Poisoned me— bitch," she mutters darkly. "I remember you were ready to break her neck. I wish you had." Thane smiles faintly at that; his siha has definitely returned to him, true to form. She continues, clearly reaching for any recollections she can find, but failing: "After that... no... nothing."

Handing her a glass of water from the nightstand which she downs eagerly, he fills her in on events since she lost awareness. "We've narrowly escaped Omega, although I'm afraid we may have made several formidable enemies there. Joker will have much to tell you about the flying he had to do to evade our pursuers. Chakwas gave you the antidote, then allowed me to bring you to your quarters to recover, on the condition that I stay here to watch over and care for you. The doctor said that if— once you woke up," he corrects himself, "the antidote will have done its job. Are you feeling well?" 

"'Mokay," she mumbles sleepily, setting her empty glass aside and dropping back down onto the pillows. "Tired. Sore. Like I got hit with a couple dozen rampaging krogan." 

"You'll be all right now," he tells her, grateful she seems to have missed his slip of the tongue. She's already nodding off, her lean body relaxing into the bed, and he hums a resonant tone to help her to sleep — or perhaps to finally soothe his own frayed nerves. "Rest, siha, and regain your strength. I'll be here when you wake."


	3. Chapter 3

"Good evening, Commander Shepard. I'm pleased to see you finally up and about." EDI's voice, more muted than usual, sounds immediately when Shepard wakes up, followed quickly by the appearance of her electric blue orb in the corner of the cabin. 

Sitting up to face the AI and rubbing her brow, Shepard glances around and tries to get her bearings. A tray of rations waits on the nightstand next to the bed, nearly overflowing: she sees protein bars scattered among packets of dried fruit in half a dozen varieties, a pile of crackers leaning against a pot of coffee and, perched carefully alongside the rest of the meal, a small bar of chocolate. The lights in the cabin have been lowered so far that the whole room has taken on an azure tint from the luminous aquarium, and a dull roar is coming from somewhere near the main door.

"Uh— thanks, EDI," Shepard says, getting to her feet gingerly and flexing her entire body in a luxurious stretch; her muscles feel like they've been neglected for weeks. "What's our status?"

"We are currently taking what Mr. Moreau calls 'the long way around' to reach the Citadel. We should be docking there in eighteen hours' time."

"Understood," Shepard nods. Still rolling her shoulders, she digs into the food, vowing to get Mess Sergeant Gardner a pay raise for the chocolate alone. Saving it for last, the candy is smooth silk on her tongue, impossibly delicious, and it dawns on her that she isn't sure how long it's been since she's last eaten. When her stomach rumbles, embarrassingly loud, she's grateful nobody else is around to hear it— but wait—

"EDI? Where's Thane?"

"Right here, my siha," comes a murmur, Thane appearing behind her, close enough that she can feel his breath on her ear. His fingers trail down her shoulders, plucking at the straps of her N7 tank top before his arms wrap around her and pull her backwards next to his body. Unsurprisingly, she hasn't heard or sensed his approach, but having him so close now, anxiety drains away that she hadn't even realized she was feeling. She relaxes back into him, resting her temple against his. Although she can't see much from her angle in front of him, she can feel bare skin against hers and fabric brushing her thighs; she suspects he's wearing nothing but a towel.

"I was just about to inform you, Commander, that Thane has been freshening up in your private bathroom," EDI chimes in helpfully. "I took the liberty of increasing the throughput of the ventilation system to a hundred and eighty percent of normal. It was intended to dispel any lingering steam from the shower to protect his lungs against further damage. The research I have done on drell anatomy indicates that—"

Thane is already chuckling as Shepard cuts EDI off. "Okay, great work, thank you again for your help. Tell Joker to continue on our current course, then switch to privacy mode, please?"

"Of course, Commander. And welcome back. Logging you out." EDI's projection winks out of existence, leaving no sound but the whirring of the overpowered fans.

"Welcome back, indeed," Thane agrees, lacing his fingers with hers and kissing the crook of her neck softly from behind, nibbling, tracing his tongue gently over her freckles. A twist of heat surges in her belly — he knows exactly what he's doing to her, knows that it's something that makes her weak in the knees, and he's clearly using that knowledge to his benefit.

Tilting her head to the side bares more of her delicate skin to him, and he bites down harder, following the nip of his teeth with soothing, almost apologetic kisses. The attention he's lavishing on her neck, coupled with his deep rumbles of desire so close by, already has that first spark of heat spreading through her whole body, and a breathy moan escapes her, louder than she'd realized it would be. 

Thane chuckles again, softer this time, faintly brushing his lips along the curve of her ear, amused and pleased by how much she's enjoying even these small touches. His hands are roaming now, moving back up her arms and squeezing her shoulders, then slipping around to the front again, under the fabric of her top. Scales rasp across her skin, the light, teasing touch tickling her stomach and sending shivers up her spine. She reaches up and backwards, her fingers gliding over his sleek frills, and earns a gasp from him in return. 

His rumbling drops in pitch, intensifies, and he takes advantage of her exposed side by running his palm up the curve of her waist, over her ribcage, bringing her shirt up with it. Perhaps not his usual subtlety, but she's eager to comply, and pulls it off the rest of the way. She pushes her panties off too, and — hell, turnabout is fair play — it only takes a quick grab at his side and a snap of her wrist for Thane's towel to fall to the floor.

By the time she's finished ridding them of their scant clothing, his warm hands are cupping her breasts and exploring the softest of skin there. Thumbs stroke lazily over her hardened nipples and her knees really _do_ feel weak; turning in his embrace, she finally crushes her lips to his. The connection between them is electric — her breath catches as another twist of excitement momentarily overwhelms her senses. Her arms loop around his neck and she presses her body to his, the two of them grinding against each other like teenagers who can't control themselves and have no interest in trying.

Shepard doesn't allow Thane's lips to leave hers even when she starts tugging him back towards her bed, pulling him down, settling herself underneath him, the weight of him pressing her into the mattress. He finally breaks the kiss to drop a trail of pecks along her jawline and then upward, clever tongue reaching out to tease at her earlobe. Yet another way Thane knows to drive her to the edge — hips thrusting up against his, her groan is only barely restrained by biting her bottom lip to hold it back.

By now she's writhing, impatient to have Thane inside her, but instead he slows his pace, positioning himself at her entrance with the barest of teasing pressure. Propped up on his elbows, he pauses, taking time to look down at her, his scales turned a vibrant blue-green by the dim aquarium light. He cups her cheek in one hand and strokes her hair with the other, touching his lips to hers in gentle kisses, saying nothing. Her body is filled with a different kind of warmth by the way he looks at her — like she's everything to him, a treasure, so much love there she can practically feel it radiating from his skin.

Another soft kiss, one that could almost be mistaken for chaste were it not for the position they're in, then she feels his length slide into her with a delicious friction; foreheads pressed together, they moan as one. Arms encircle his strong shoulders as she tilts her hips up, inviting him in deeper, wanting to feel every inch of him. He responds by burying himself in her completely, his lustful groans with each thrust only heightening her excitement.

The tension in her body has already been building for some time, and she's spiraling quickly up to her breaking point, gasping moans and murmured words begging him for more as his pace picks up. He sits back on his heels suddenly, both hands reaching for her hips, gripping tightly, bringing them up higher to meet him, and the new angle of his thrusts makes her see stars. Knowing she's close, she can only give in completely, clinging to his hands on her and crying out hoarsely as she comes. The wave of sensation has barely begun to subside when Thane, head thrown back, follows her over the edge a moment later with a cry of his own.

Some time after, when her breathing has finally slowed to normal, she finds herself tucked into Thane's side, not entirely sure how she got there but feeling too serene and content to question it. His fingers are at her waist again, an affectionate caress this time, a simple gesture that comes naturally to him but which means the world to Shepard. She returns it, running her thumb over his collarbone; moved to tell Thane that she loves him, she whispers the words.

"I love you, siha," he replies easily, squeezing her briefly in his arms. "You had me quite worried. I've missed your company these last few days."

_"What?"_ She sits up and looks at him incredulously. "A few _days?_ God, no wonder I was starving."

Thane raises his brow in surprise, then smiles and starts recounting the highlights of their recent excitement, starting with her departure to meet Aria for dinner, asking what she remembers. While he's speaking, he rises from bed and examines what little food remains on the tray. Absently, he retrieves his towel, and refastens it around his waist. The twist of white cotton near his hip distracts Shepard enough to lose the thread of his tale, and her expression becomes a playful smirk.

"Thane," she interrupts, "I think I might freshen up a little myself." He turns to look at her, curious, and she lowers her voice to a more suggestive tone. "Care to join me? We _do_ have the ventilation system at a hundred and eighty percent of normal, so your lungs—"

This time, it's Shepard's turn to be cut off. Grabbing her hands and pulling her to her feet, Thane captures her lips in a deep kiss before hoisting her over his shoulder and striding away towards the shower. On their way up the stairs, his towel slips off once again and is left crumpled in a pile on the floor behind him. The view its absence affords her is glorious, and she feels absolutely zero guilt for helping the knot to come undone.


End file.
